Islanders' Noah Dobson won't need surgery for lower-body injury

It is not the worst-case scenario.

But make no mistake, the loss of Noah Dobson with a lower-body injury for an unspecified period of time is another blow to the Islanders and their playoff hopes in a season that has been defined by the afflictions they already have experienced.

After a half-hour practice at Northwell Health Ice Center on Thursday morning, a team spokesperson said the defenseman is week-to-week but that the injury will not require surgery.

Dobson suffered an injury to his right leg when it bent awkwardly after a check by Columbus’ Cole Sillinger 1:16 into the third period of Monday night’s 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets at UBS Arena. He left the ice and did not return.

Dobson did not participate in Tuesday’s practice or Thursday’s session. Without him, coach Patrick Roy reconfigured his second and third defense pairings and left the Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock tandem intact. Alexander Romanov skated with Scott Mayfield and rookie Isaiah George was paired with Dennis Cholowski.

Cholowski quarterbacked the first power-play unit in place of Dobson and Pulock ran the second unit.

“The key for us right now is just making sure guys play their way. No one here [can fully] replace Noah,” Roy said. “Everybody has to play their own game and focus on what needs to be done.”

The loss of the 12th pick in the 2018 draft is significant. Dobson leads Islanders defensemen in goals (six), assists (18), points (24), time on ice per game (24:01), time on ice at even strength per game (20:39) and power-play time on ice per game (2:43) this season.

“Whenever a guy’s missing who logs big minutes, it’s tough,” Mayfield told Newsday. “Other guys have to eat those minutes and sometimes it’s a challenge.”

In particular, the puck-moving aspect from the back end will need to be addressed. Dobson provided the ability to skate the puck out of the defensive end and was able to jump into the play. George and Cholowski have shown puck-moving abilities, but Mayfield and Romanov are defense-oriented blueliners.

Mayfield has two goals and five assists for seven points in 45 games. Romanov has nine assists in 32 games.

“We try to move the puck in the [offensive] zone as well, we try our best,” Romanov said. “But again my mindset should be in the [defensive] zone more than the [offensive zone].”

Although Romanov has been primarily paired with Dobson this season, he has been a tandem with Mayfield in the not-too-distant past. Romanov and Mayfield skated together during the 2022-23 season for slightly more than 500 minutes spanning 73 games, according to industry site MoneyPuck.com.

“He’s learned a lot,” Mayfield said of Romanov. “He’s turning into a good player and he’s huge for our back end. He’s good on the penalty kill. Like I said, he brings that physical presence and it’s something we need.”